The field of this invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for slideably mounting drawers in cabinets. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a drawer slide structure and method of installing same within a storage compartment of a cabinet.
Cabinets can take numerous forms such as a piece of furniture, a wall or floor mounted structure and even a refrigerator. Drawers and trays are normally found in cabinets that are commonly found in kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms of houses or in offices of commercial establishments. A tray is just a shallow drawer. Each drawer or tray includes a storage area located above its bottom surface defined as a storage compartment cavity. Drawers are a convenient means by which a person can access the contents supported by the drawer. The drawer is pulled outward from the cabinet so that its contents are easily perused and objects readily removed or replaced.
Most older or inexpensive pieces of furniture and cabinets use wooden sliders upon which the drawer slides as it is opened or closed. Newer furniture and cabinets may use plastic lower friction slides and more elaborate slide structures that incorporate ball bearings which will provide for smoother operation. Modern drawer slide structures are usually categorized in how such are mounted, including center mount, side mount, bottom mount and European mount. Drawer slide structures are intended for use varying from light to heavy drawers and thus contain load ratings from 75 to 450 ponds. A load rating of 100 pounds is considered typical.
Many cabinets have their storage compartments accessible through doors. These compartments traditionally have been subdivided by shelves. It has been common to locate the shelves vertically spaced apart at fixed distances apart. Later applications have included making the shelves vertically adjustable permitting the user to customize the storage cavity sizes of the shelves. If a drawer or tray is included with the shelves, such are commonly glide mounted. This mounting of the drawer or tray allows such to be extended out of the storage compartment so the contents contained by the drawer or tray to be easily accessed in lieu of the user having to bend down and reach into the cabinet or having to get on one's knees to gain access to the rear of the drawer or tray.
Cabinets having drawers with defined dimensions can be constructed in an off site installation such as in a factory. In the off site cabinet construction the drawers must be precisely constructed. Measurements must be exact. If not exact, at the installation site the drawers can not be installed requiring modification back at the factory which is time consuming. In the case of custom made cabinetry the drawers can be permanently mounted on site of the installation. Once the slide structure of prior art installations for a drawer is established there has not been any adjustment provision included. However, in the case of cabinets having a door that opens to a single storage cavity with one or more pull out shelves, drawers or trays the user may desire to have the shelf, drawer or tray to be height adjustable to tailor the storage space for the particular items to be stored therein. For example, a collection of plastic storage containers may not need as much clearance as a set of metal pots and pans and the user may wish to adjust the height of the various shelves, drawers or trays to optimize the storage efficiency. In the past drawer slide structures have been permanently installed using fasteners (screws, nails or bolts) not permitting adjustability of the drawers. Because of the difficulty of mounting drawer slide structures, users of cabinetry have been limited to a choice of vertically adjustable stationary shelves, drawers or trays positioned at fixed heights within the cabinet storage compartment. Therefore, a drawer, shelf or tray slide structure is needed whereby the drawer, shelf or tray is vertically adjustable within a cabinet compartment.